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Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Next DC Direct-to-DVD Animated Film is....

Well, with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earth coming out next week, DC and Warner Brothers have officially announced what their next straight-to-DVD animated film will be! It is....

Batman: Under the Red Hood.

This film will be based on the Batman storyline Under the Hood that ran in the comics a few years back. When a new murderous vigiliante known as the Red Hood shows up in Gotham City, Batman vows to uncover his identity. Batman first suspects the Joker, as the Joker used the alias the Red Hood early in his criminal career. But who it it turns out to be is someone with ties to the pasts of both Batman and the Joker....

SPOILER WARNING: It's turns out to be Jason Todd, the Robin that was famously killed off by the Joker in the 1980s, and recently resurrected from the grave.

As always, DC and Warner Brothers has assembled an all-star voice cast. Batman will be voiced by veteran Canadian character actor Bruce Greenwood, last seen in the latest Star Trek movie as Captain Pike. The Red Hood will be voiced by Jensen Ackles, star of the TV series Supernatural, and best-remembered by DC geeks for his single-season stint as Jason Teague on Smallville. Nightwing will be voiced by the ever-awesome Neil Patrick Harris. The Joker will be voiced by John diMaggio, the veteran voice actor sill best remembered as Bender on Futurama, and Ras al Guhl will be voiced by Jason Issacs, still best known as the senior Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

No word yet on the bonus features, but we've been promised that the next DC Showcase animated short film will be about Green Arrow, so there's a good chance that'll be on the disc.

No word yet on a release date, but following the trend of the release schedule, I'm guessing late spring/early summer.